BZI CEO James Barlow for Forbes Business Council - The Long Game: Leveraging Relationships To Accelerate Growth

Innovation. Dynamic team engagement. Deep commitment to client experience. Are these attributes predictable outcomes that can be tied to investment initiatives?

The short answer? Yes. The hard answer? Yes, but the return is like any other investment. It’s incremental, and it’s cumulative. It is a product of discipline over time, with no shortcuts.

Each December, we hold our year-end event to celebrate the phenomenal accomplishments that our team members have made possible. Focusing on our purpose, mission, values and vision has propelled our relationships and opportunities within the industry in ways we never could have imagined.

Last year, our company celebrated a breakthrough year of several firsts. We achieved $1 billion in accumulative revenue, doubled our team members, won national awards, launched first-of-its-kind products and broke ground on the BZI Innovation Park—Utah’s first rural inland port, poised to bring economic and growth opportunities to regional businesses and communities. But we could only have achieved this by taking a step back and laying the foundation first.

At the year-end of 2022, I talked about “sharpening the axe” and how leveraging adversity can propel your company into an entirely new growth paradigm. It wasn’t just about overcoming business adversity. In fact, we expanded into new industries besides just construction for retail warehouses. What started as massive change and uncertainty became our most successful year. This was accomplished through what I call “the long game”—building and investing in relationships.

Play the long game by engaging your clients.

When it comes to engaging with your client partners, you’re not just trying to win a job; you’re trying to win a relationship. More than just providing superior products or value-added services, it’s important to focus on continuing to grow your relationships so that you can mutually benefit each other for decades. It’s much harder to build new relationships than to nurture and respect the ones you already have. For example, we think of working with our client partners not as “just” temporary or transactional experiences. You are a team, aligned around delivering value to the end user.

Strategic relationships can transform the impossible into reality. Innovation cannot be achieved in a silo; you need passionate and aligned collaborators. For instance, we presented a challenge to one of our long-time equipment partners. We asked them to build a machine that can lift higher and heavier and be more maneuverable than anything else like it on the market. And they delivered. Leaders should recognize that achievements like these, accomplished through trust and teamwork, aren’t always done on their own.

Foster company culture with your employees.

Partners are vital to a company’s successful growth, but the long game requires another crucial element: your employees. Last year, we onboarded over 500 new team members in 180 days. Most of these new hires—around 65%—came from referrals in a challenging construction market with a labor shortage in which everyone was trying to hire top talent.

With so many companies competing for new hires, what can propel them to yours? For us, the driving force was the relationships we have built with our team. And because our team members understand our culture and are dedicated to it, the individuals they bring on board only continue to enhance the success we’re all working toward.

As I touched on previously in “Developing Leadership Through A Culture Of Trust And Innovation,” culture is your company’s bedrock. Going to work should be a meaningful experience. Clearly articulating your purpose, vision, values, motto and mission and sharing these internally can help clarify and communicate your expectations and intentions within and outside the organization.

In short, my advice for leveraging relationships to accelerate growth.

• There is a dual component to genuinely breaking through and leveraging relationships for success. Both your internal and external relationships must be built and nurtured.

• Relationships are 360 degrees—from your leadership to your team members and partners. Together, they bring innovation and market opportunity full circle. One does not exist without the other.

• Strong relationships allow you to develop groundbreaking innovations and advance into new markets, even if you have not gained specific experience in those industries. Don’t just look at the immediate opportunity. Focus on mutually beneficial relationships for the long term.

To conclude, playing the long game takes disciplined, long-term relationship building. Investing in enduring relationships can not only accelerate your company’s success, but establish a foundation for client commitment.